A razor blade typically is formed of suitable substrate material such as metal or ceramic, and an edge is formed with wedge-shape configuration with an ultimate edge or tip that has a radius of less than about 1,000 angstroms, the wedge shaped surfaces having an included angle of less than 30.degree.. As shaving action is severe and blade edge damage frequently results and to enhance shavability, the use of one or more layers of supplemental coating material has been proposed for shave facilitation, and/or to increase the hardness and/or corrosion resistance of the shaving edge.
A number of such coating materials have been proposed, such as polymeric materials and metals, as well as other materials including diamond-like carbon (DLC) material. Each such layer or layers of supplemental material must have adhesion compatibility so that each layer remains firmly adhered to the substrate throughout the useful life of the razor blade, and desirably provide characteristics such as improved shavability, improved hardness and/or corrosion resistance while not adversely affecting the geometry and cutting effectiveness of the shaving edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,243 of Bache et al. describes blade substrate materials sharpened by ion bombardment from ion sources having the axes of their beams directed at the edges of the razor blades. U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,568 of Parent et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,305 of Hahn et al. show blades which have an interlayer interposed between the substrate and the diamond-like coating, wherein the interlayer is deposited on the substrate and then the diamond-like coating is deposited on the interlayer.
The prior solutions are not entirely successful, and it would be desirable simply to use mechanical honing processes to form the sharpened substrate (rather than the ion beam formation shown in Bache et al.) followed by a direct deposition of amorphous diamond coating on the substrate (without the intervening step of depositing an interlayer). It would be desirable, therefore, to be able to start with a thin blade substrate produced by mechanical honing and to impart both rigidity and hardness to the substrate by depositing an amorphous diamond coating directly on the substrate.